


The Sound of Sirens

by Suzie_Shooter



Category: Atlantis (UK TV)
Genre: Love Potion/Spell, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 09:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzie_Shooter/pseuds/Suzie_Shooter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pythagoras accidentally causes Jason to fall in love with him with Circe's siren song jar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of Sirens

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Season 01, Episode 06

Hercules always complained that he tidied too much, and Pythagoras was beginning to think that he was right, or at least wishing that he hadn't bothered today. He stared down at the innocent-looking jar he'd just uncovered beneath a pile of Hercules' clothes and bit his lip uneasily.

Why did they even still have the bloody thing? It had caused so much trouble, and was so dangerous, and here it was just lying about where anyone could accidentally knock it over and - and what?

Pythagoras frowned. Hercules had told them it contained the song of the sirens, but what did that mean, exactly? How did you capture a song in a jar? He assumed it was some kind of metaphor, that the jar just contained a love potion of some sort, in which case the jar wasn't dangerous in and of itself, but should probably be put safely out of reach. He wouldn't put it past Hercules to drink _anything_ when he was drunk enough, and the poor bastard was love-lorn enough as it was already.

He picked it up and considered it thoughtfully. It was warm to the touch, almost body-temperature, and he nearly put it down again with a shudder of revulsion. Curiosity won out though. The study of herbs and their applications had long been an interest of his, and he wondered what sort of ingredients went into a love philtre like this. 

Telling himself that it was all in the name of legitimate investigation, he gingerly lifted the lid and looked inside.

His first impression was one of disappointment - the jar was empty. Hercules must have given it all to Medusa, he thought, before looking up with a vague frown. There was music - no, singing - coming from somewhere nearby. It was an odd sound, with no melody that he could pin down but it made him feel unaccountably unsettled, and he looked all round the room before it dawned on him what the source was.

Pythagoras stared in horror at the jar in his hands, for a frozen moment wondering if he was about to fall hideously in love with the next person he saw, before reason took over with a flush of relief. It wasn't made to work on the person wielding it after all. 

Fascinated despite himself, Pythagoras stared into the jar as the eerie siren song echoed around him. It felt as much in his head as outside it, and made his skin prickle.

"Pythagoras?"

The sudden voice behind him made him jump in guilty alarm, and he slammed the lid back on, thrusting the jar deep into the mound of Hercules' (thankfully clean) laundry. 

"Jason!" He turned, plastering on a smile and hoping he didn't look as flustered as he felt. "I didn't hear you come in!" He hadn't heard it, right? Pythagoras thought desperately. Because the thought of Jason walking out of here and falling in love with the first woman he saw was just too unbearable for words.

Jason was looking at him with an odd little smile on his face. "Were you singing just now?" he asked.

"What? No! Er, no, wasn't me?" Pythagoras swore inwardly, and shuffled defensively in front of the heap of clothing as if Jason could see right through it to the jar beneath.

"Oh. It was pretty. You _should_ sing," Jason said with sudden enthusiasm, and his smile widened into one of delight with his own idea.

"You wouldn't say that if you'd ever heard me." Pythagoras gave him an apologetic grimace, and started clearing things again with manic speed, suddenly needing something to do with his hands.

"Here, let me help you." Jason hurried over in an unprecedented display of willingness to help tidy, and reached out for the laundry.

"No!" Pythagoras' yell startled them both, and Jason looked hurt. Pythagoras swallowed, modifying his tone. "Um, sorry, I - you don't want to be touching Hercules' underthings do you? We should leave them for him."

"Okay." Jason beamed with sunny agreement, and Pythagoras hesitated. 

"Jason?"

"Yes?"

"Is - everything okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I - just - you're acting a bit - weird."

"I'm just happy." Jason nodded and smiled, and Pythagoras smiled back uncertainly. 

"Um. Right. Okay. That's - good?"

Maybe he was drunk, Pythagoras thought. He didn't _look_ drunk, but you could never tell. He leaned closer, covertly angling to see if he could smell wine fumes on Jason's breath, or the reek of the tavern on his clothes, but there was nothing. He straightened up to find Jason's face entirely too close to his, and jumped.

"Why are we sniffing each other?" Jason whispered.

"Er - are we?" Pythagoras could feel himself blushing and moved back quickly. "I mean, er, sorry."

"That's alright. You can sniff me as much as you like. And anything else you like, for that matter." 

Pythagoras stopped dead. "What?"

Jason shrugged. "I'm just saying. You can do anything you like. If you know what I mean," he added, and winked.

Pythagoras went pale. "Oh, _no_ ," he whispered, as the penny finally dropped. "You're - Jason, no, tell me you didn't hear - I mean - really?" he stared at Jason in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Oh come on. Tell me you don't feel it?" Jason murmured conspiratorially as he closed the distance between them and let his hand stroke down Pythagoras' arm.

"I - no, I do, I really do, it's just - it's just - " Pythagoras swallowed. "Oh, dear." 

This was honestly all he'd ever wanted, all he'd ever dreamed about, to have Jason looking at him in this way, with such fond softness in his eyes, and that wicked little smile on his lips, and to be touching him, actually touching him with such intent - 

Jason's hand slid lower, and Pythagoras yelped. "Whoops! There we go." He captured Jason's hand and patted it with a nervous laugh. "Why don't we - make some dinner? Or, we could go to the tavern? Hercules is racing bullfrogs tonight I understand."

Jason shook his head with a smile. "I think we should stay in," he said in a low, teasing voice that went straight to Pythagoras' knees with an invitation to buckle. "Especially if Hercules is going to be late back." He slid his hand behind Pythagoras' head and let his eyes fall to his lips, lazily, hungrily.

"I'm sorry," Pythagoras whispered, helplessly transfixed.

"What for?" Jason smiled, and it was so reassuring and confident and so _him_ , that for a second Pythagoras wondered if this was real, if it had nothing to do with the jar, or spells, but that by some miracle Jason actually genuinely wanted him.

It was enough to stop him from protesting as Jason finally kissed him, bringing their mouths together with a gentle firmness that made Pythagoras shiver. Jason's tongue was soft against his own, his lips warm and eager, and for a blissful moment, Pythagoras let himself relax into it, closing his eyes and melting into Jason's embrace.

When Jason started guiding him towards the bed though, Pythagoras reluctantly disentangled himself with a pang of regret. "Jason, no, we can't. This isn't you."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's me. Don't you want to?" Jason looked hesitant. "I thought - you liked me?"

"I do!" Pythagoras protested automatically, then winced, realising he was digging himself in deeper. He took Jason's hands in his, mentally pleading with him to understand. "It's just - you don't like me. Not really. And if you did, there's no way you'd be moving this fast, which means it's not you, it can't be you, it's the spell, and oh, Jason, forgive me."

"You realise you're making no sense?" Jason smiled.

"Oh - stop - smiling at me!" Pythagoras wailed. "I've done a bad thing, and I didn't mean to, but it happened, and there it is. You're not in love with me Jason, you just think you are because you heard the sirens from Hercules' _stupid_ jar. And I'm sorry." 

Jason frowned, trying to follow what Pythagoras was saying because it clearly meant a lot to him. "You're saying - I'm - under - a spell?" he said slowly.

"Yes!" Pythagoras gazed at him with a mixture of anguish and relief.

"Oh. Right. Well, it seems to be a nice one, so that's alright then. Can we go to bed now?" Jason looked at him hopefully and Pythagoras groaned, retreating across the room only for Jason to follow him.

"Jason?"

"Yes, my love?"

"I'm so sorry."

"What for?"

"This." Pythagoras brought up the hand he'd been rummaging in the laundry with, and hit Jason over the head with the jar. Jason slumped to the floor at the same moment the jar cracked into pieces, and a shriek of outrage seemed to hang in the air for a second before fading away.

It was a minute or so before Jason came round, and he was confused to find himself lying on the floor with a folded sheepskin under his head. He sat up, groaning, and caught sight of Pythagoras sitting on the far side of the room watching him, arms folded tightly around himself and face a picture of misery.

Jason rubbed his head. "Did you just hit me?"

"...yes."

Jason blinked in surprise. "Have you been practising?" He hauled himself unsteadily to his feet, and Pythagoras rushed instinctively to help, before checking himself at the last moment.

"Jason? How do you - feel?" 

"Other than sore you mean?" Jason asked ruefully. His foot crunched on a sherd of pottery and he looked down, frowning as he took in the fragments of jar shattered on the floor. He looked back at Pythagoras slowly.

"Did you - just use that on _me_?"

"Not on purpose!" Pythagoras screwed up his face in anguish. "Jason, I'm sorry, I never meant - it was just - and you were so - and now you hate me and my life is over." He looked miserably away, waiting for Jason to yell at him, or hit him, or, worse, just coldly pack up his things and leave.

Instead, Jason laughed, quietly. "Are you going to actually finish any of those sentences?"

Pythagoras looked back at him, hardly daring to hope that Jason wasn't angry. "You're not - mad at me?"

Jason shook his head slowly. "You could no more use magic on someone with evil intent than you could refuse Hercules the last food on your plate." He broke into a smile. "I still trust you, you idiot. Stop looking so worried."

"Oh Jason." Pythagoras thought he might collapse with relief. But - "How much - do you remember?" he asked cautiously.

"Remember? Oh, everything," Jason said teasingly. He reached out and took Pythagoras' hand, pulled him closer. 

"Really?" 

"Uh huh." 

"Ah."

"Shall I tell you a secret?" Jason murmured. 

Pythagoras looked wary. "If - you like?" 

"The enchantment might have spurred me on a bit, but I - well, I was, kind've - a bit - in love with you already. I just wasn't sure how you felt."

Pythagoras laughed in blushing surprise, then looked suspicious. "You're not still bewitched, are you?"

Jason shook his head. "I don't think so. I feel quite rational. I guess breaking the jar ended the spell?"

"Maybe." Pythagoras sighed, then looked Jason in the eye, a little nervously. "Did you mean that? What you just said?"

In answer, Jason kissed him, with a slow and heated determination that was even better than before.

"You didn't need the sirens, Pythagoras," Jason smiled. "I was already under your spell."

\--


End file.
